Hillsboro junior Anna Dean is used to busy multi-race days, but ensuring that she advanced to four 6A state finals at Hayward Field on Friday still registers as an astounding achievement.

Dean ran the top preliminary times in both the 100 (personal record 12.09) and 100-meter hurdles (14.82) to establish herself as the favorite in both events.

As the reigning 100-meter state champion, it would be difficult for the target on Dean’s back to get much larger at the state track meet, but if it was possible, she did it Friday.

“My best performance was in the 100. When I came out of the blocks in all three of my events today, I just felt really powerful,” Dean said. “That’s what got me off to such an awesome start.”

The Hillsboro junior admitted that since midseason she has even been surprising herself with her performances and is unsure what her body will be capable of during Saturday’s finals.

“I’m not nervous at all. I’m just excited,” Dean said. “I feel like I’m going to surprise myself – just go above my expectations like I have been all year. I want to see what I end up doing.”

Whether it has been producing personal or meet records, Dean has been in top form for several weeks and believes she has a final act left in her powerful legs this season.

“I’ve just been surprising myself and not knowing what to expect, but in a positive way,” she said. “Every time I surprise myself it’s because I set a record or personal best – things that I didn’t think I could… I didn’t think I would peak so early.”

Dean also advanced to the 200-meter final along with teammate Krissy Thomas.

With a crowded schedule consisting of four finals to run Saturday, Dean said she expects her races to be "about 45 minutes apart."

"I feel like having that time is good," she said. "(Friday) I had about an hour-and-a-half, which is a long time. Once I get my first race started, I like to cruise into the next one and keep myself in the zone."

Perhaps the only letdown for the Spartan girls was Kennedy Taube’s disqualification in the 400.

The freshman qualified for the final, but was deemed to have stepped on the line and was eliminated, which led to some words of wisdom from Dean, a state track meet veteran.

“The advice I gave to her was, ‘It’s your freshman year and you had an awesome opportunity to run at Hayward in state.’ She has three more years ahead of her and is only going to improve,” she said.

Both the Hillsboro 4x100 and 4x400 are top contenders for a state championship, and will compete Saturday.

On the boys’ side, perhaps no effort was more uplifting than that of junior Cricket Browning.

Browning just missed a chance to go to state last season when he finished in third place in the 400-meter race at the Pacific Conference track and field championships, but has made the state finals this year after running 50.16.